Huhne to take solar FiT case to the Supreme Court

In statement issued a few hours after the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling that the Government’s plan to slash the solar FiT was unlawful, he said: "The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court ruling on FiTs albeit on different grounds. We disagree and are seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court."

Today’s Court of Appeal decision means the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) cannot go through with its original plan to cut to the FiT – from 43 pence to 21 pence for solar installations up to four kilowatt in size – until March 3 2012. Ministers at DECC had put forward plans to cut the tariff from December 12 2011, saying early decisive action was required to safeguard the FiT budget. The proposals were ruled unlawful by the High Court in December, and this morning, the High Court ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal. 

DECC did not set out the Government’s grounds for a further appeal, but Huhne said: "We want to maximise the number of installations that are possible within the available budget rather than use available money to pay a higher tariff to half the number of installations. Solar PV can have strong and vibrant future in UK and we want a lasting FITs scheme to support that future and jobs in the industry."

But those who brought the High Court case against the Government warned a further appeal would only lead to more uncertainty for the solar industry, as well as waste time and public money. 

"This landmark judgement confirms that devastating Government plans to rush through cuts to solar payments are illegal – and will prevent Ministers from causing industry chaos with similar cuts in future," said Andy Atkins, executive director at Friends of Earth, , which – along with solar firms Solarcentury and Homesun – won the High Court case against the Government in December. "The Government must now take steps to safeguard the UK’s solar industry and the 29,000 jobs still facing the chop."

Business reaction

The business community also urged the Government to use today’s decision to "draw a line" under the FiT case.

"The judgement should be used to draw a line under this saga, which saw the Government scoring a spectacular own goal and confidence in the renewables sector undermined," John Cridland, CBI director-general, said. "We must bring certainty back to this high growth sector."

Howard Johns, chairman of the Solar Trade Association, added: "The Government’s appeal against the original ruling has created huge uncertainty for the thousands of small businesses in the sector, and we sincerely hope that the Government chooses not to take this further by appealing against this result."